Yale Comeback Falls Short in Game 1

NEW HAVEN, Conn. – The favored home team
does not always have the advantage in the post season, especially
when trying to get its timing down after a two-week layoff. Mike
Clemente stopped 37 of 39 shots and held off a late rally as Brown
knocked off No. 6 Yale 3-2 in the first of a best-of-three ECAC
Hockey Quarterfinal series at Ingalls Rink.

The Bears (11-18-4), the No. 11 seed who have won three of their
last four games, came into New Haven confident after upsetting a
strong RPI team in three games. They scored 57 seconds apart within
the first two minutes of the second period and never relinquished
the lead. That effort ended Yale’s four-game conference
playoff win streak and made Saturday’s game No. 2 a must-win
for the No. 1 seed hoping to advance to the ECAC semi-finals at
Albany next weekend.

Yale (19-8-3), playing without injured standout senior forward
Sean Backman, outshot Brown 39-31 but had trouble finishing and
converted only one of seven power-play chances. Tom Dignard, who
had two points, and Denny Kearney had the Bulldogs’ goals.

Billy Blase stopped 28 of 31 shots including a number of odd-man
rushes, but it wasn’t enough to prevent the Elis from losing
for the first time with the California senior in net. He needed 10
saves in each of the last two frames to keep Yale in the contest.

At the other end, Clemente was knocking down shots all over the
place. He had 15 saves in the second and 27 over the final 40
minutes.

Both teams had 10 shots on target and man-advantage time in a
scoreless opening frame. The only grade-A scoring chance came from
the home team in the fourth minute with Broc Little having a good
look at the net. Clemente came up with the save.

“We came out [in the first period] ok. I thought the first
was pretty even,” said Keith Allain ’80, Yale’s
Malcolm G. Chace Head Coach of Hockey.

The Bears got a gift seven seconds into the second on a shot
from center ice that bounced the wronog way for the Yale goalie.
Jack Maclellan won the draw back to defenseman Jeff Buvinow
(7th goal) and the sophomore wheeled around and headed
up ice before wristing a low, dump-in that went on target. The puck
bounced and caught the Eli netminder by surprise.

“I saw it the whole way. I don’t regret the way I
played it,” said Blase, the only Yale goalie with post-season
experience. “It was a tough bounce. It took a quick hop and
went high glove side.”

The visitors got another 57 seconds later on a bouncing puck and
another bad break. Buvinow cycled the puck from the corner out to
the high slot and fired a low shot wide that bounced off the boards
behind the net and came out on the other side for Aaron Volpatti
(15th), who had an open side of the net put-back to make
it 2-0.

The Blue, which outshot Brown 15-12, had plenty of chances to
get on the board in the second. Little hit the post with eight
minutes left and that’s when Yale really stepped up the
pressure to pepper Clemente with pucks. Most of that momentum was
taken away by a not-so-obvious Bulldog bench penalty for too many
men on the ice.

Yale finally found the back of the net 5:01 into the third
period, cashing in on its sixth man-advantage. Brian O’Neill
sent a perfect pass from behind the net and Tom Dignard one-timed
it inside the near post.

The Bulldogs turned it up another notch and nearly got the
equalizer on two occasions before Brown jumped all over an odd-man
rush to make it 3-1. Bobby Farnham banged back a Volpatti shot at
6:14 for his third goal of the year and the eventual game-winner.

The home team could smell a comeback when Buvinow got a
five-minute major for hitting from behind with 9:34 left. Two
minutes of that power play were interrupted by a Mark Arcobello
holding penalty, and the Elis were never able to get one past
Clemente.

“We didn’t execute well enough offensively, and we
were not sound enough on defense,” said Allain of the
defending ECAC Tournament champions.

Blase came to the bench with 1:12 left and Little immediately
had a great chance from the circle that was saved. The Elis
desperately kept the puck in the Brown end and hit the net with
37.7 left to cut the margin to one. Dignard’s snap shot from
the top of the right circle was re-directed in front by Kearney.

Dignard was not done getting pucks toward the net. His shot from
the middle of the slot was smothered by Clemente with 19 seconds
left, and that was the last of the chances to get the equalizer.

“It came down to them outworking us. They also got a lot
of bounces, which happens when you outwork a team,” said
Dignard. “When they are getting to pucks faster than us, we
look a lot slower. I got the puck in opportune situations and
need to bury those.”

The Bulldogs need a win Saturday night to stay in the conference
tournament. More could be at stake with a likely drop in the
PairWise rankings and an eye toward the NCAA Tournament.

“They [Brown] played the way they had to for a win. I
expect us to be better tomorrow night,” said Allain.